Keynote Speech for MSME Forum by Ambassador Cho Tae-Yul, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea to UN

Keynote Speech for MSME Forum by Ambassador Cho Tae-Yul, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea to UN

Keynote Speech for MSME Forum by Ambassador Cho Tae-Yul, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea to UN

Monday, February, 17, 2020

Keynote Speech for MSME Forum by Ambassador Cho Tae-Yul, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea to UN

Monday, February, 17, 2020

Can MSMEs Serve as the Best Partners for the UN to Reach it’s Goals?

Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
 
In my speech at this Forum last year, I highlighted the critical importance of the United Nations working together with outside stakeholders, especially the private sector, including entrepreneurs and MSMEs. As emphasized in the UN Secretary-General’s SDG Progress Report and the Global Sustainable Development Report, sustainable development cannot be achieved by the United Nations alone. Unless we join forces with each and every stakeholder and scale-up our joint efforts, we will continue to struggle to achieve the 2030 Agenda.
 
Today, I wish to highlight three points that I believe are important in terms of relations between MSMEs and SDGs at the global level (Read more…).
 
Technological Trends That Are Driving Today’s Entrepreneurs Forward

Technological Trends That Are Driving Today’s Entrepreneurs Forward

Technological Trends That Are Driving Today’s Entrepreneurs Forward

Monday, February, 10, 2020

Technological Trends That Are Driving Today’s Entrepreneurs Forward

Monday, February, 10, 2020

How much does technology play a role in today’s entrepreneurship?

There’s an explosion of innovation, with more and more entrepreneurs building their businesses daily. A large part of what’s driving this new wave of entrepreneurship is the emerging technologies enabling these startups.

 A midyear report from Tech Crunch notes that funding for venture-backed startups are at an all-time high. The reports show that this year’s total venture capital funding is expected to eclipse last year’s record high of $117 billion—pointing to at least $120 billion in investments.. A huge portion of these startups leverage technologies including artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, and blockchain. Bloomberg U.S. Startups Barometer, a tracker for the overall health of the business environment for private technology companies in the US, shows a continuously rising trend in the last decade. In fact, the index has risen more than 48% compared to last year—indicating the increasing flow of investments for entrepreneurs.

AI growth

The ubiquity of AI has had the most profound impact on growing entrepreneurship. From automating tasks and maximizing convenience, to predictive analytics and pattern analysis, AI applications and their development are at the center of many startups. Across industries, Business Insider reports that at least 41 startups that leveraged AI have received seed funding of over $1 billion this year. The explosion of use cases can be found in healthcare, transportation, marketing, and education. As enterprise and business tech companies continue to merge and collaborate with numerous AI startups, more entrepreneurs will move to innovate in this space. In fact, even non-tech companies like McDonalds and Nike are acquiring AI startups. (Read more…).

MESSAGES FROM T20 TOKYO SUMMIT 2019: CHALLENGES & PROPOSALS FOR SME POLICIES IN G20 COUNTRIES

MESSAGES FROM T20 TOKYO SUMMIT 2019: CHALLENGES & PROPOSALS FOR SME POLICIES IN G20 COUNTRIES

MESSAGES FROM T20 TOKYO SUMMIT 2019: CHALLENGES & PROPOSALS FOR SME POLICIES IN G20 COUNTRIES

Monday, February, 3, 2020

MESSAGES FROM T20 TOKYO SUMMIT 2019: CHALLENGES & PROPOSALS FOR SME POLICIES IN G20 COUNTRIES

Monday, February, 3, 2020

How can we overcome the many challenges that come with creating new SMEs?

SMEs have a dominant share in the number of firms and employment in all G20 countries, and so can play an important role in economic development and job creation in each country. In Japan, for example, SMEs (firms with either less than 300 employees or 300 million yen in capital in general) account for 99.7% of firms, employing approximately 70% of the workforce.
 
In the manufacturing sector, they produce about a half of value added. The legal or statistical definitions of SMEs differ across countries and also across sectors. Moreover, SMEs are quite heterogeneous even within a single country. Therefore, it is difficult and even no use to propose one-fits-all policy proposals for all types of SMEs in each country.
 

Nevertheless, we selected some major issues that may be common challenges for SMEs in the G20 countries and proposed some policy measures that may help SMEs to play their roles appropriately in the economy (Read more…).

The Role of Micro-Small and Medium Enterprises in Achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

The Role of Micro-Small and Medium Enterprises in Achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

The Role of Micro-Small and Medium Enterprises in Achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

Monday, January, 27, 2020

The Role of Micro-Small and Medium Enterprises in Achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

January, Monday, 27, 2020

Can Micro-Small and Medium Enterprises Be Part of the Solution to Reach the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals?

There is less empirical evidence on MSMEs growth in developing and emerging economies than in the developed world. MSMEs in developing and developed countries are faced with different challenges. Many MSMEs in developing countries are still informally organized enterprises limiting their longevity and wider contributions they make towards the SDGs. There are also questions on how formalization of the economy ought to take place.
 
Moreover, demands and challenges vary within the micro, small and medium enterprises cluster itself demands and challenges faced by micro enterprises are different from those faced by small and medium enterprises. Studies show that the growth of MSMEs in developing and least developed countries (LDCs) dominate in sectors which are labor intensive and possess low barriers to entry, including agriculture and agribusiness, manufacturing and service sector.
 
Women, youth and other vulnerable groups face more difficult challenges in MSME development. Women and youth MSME entrepreneurs, for example, particularly those from rural poor communities, are often further disadvantaged in growing their business, lacking land deeds and/or collateral needed to access formal sources of credit.
 
Other challenges include limited access to finance and lack of capacity and knowledge, particularly with regards to business development, marketing and strategic management skills (Read more…).
The Need For Nurturing Entrepreneurship

The Need For Nurturing Entrepreneurship

The Need For Nurturing Entrepreneurship

Monday, January, 20, 2020

The Need For Nurturing Entrepreneurship

January, Monday, 20, 2020

Should there be a focus on Promoting and Developing Digital Entrepreneurs Nationally and Internationally?

Europe and mainly Italy is the land of family businesses mostly categorized as small to medium enterprises. They are recognized to be the backbone of the current economy, enhancing international and local growth. Those companies have been surviving transferring their know-how from generation to the next generation. They have been increasing the employability rate and improving the wealth state of their own country.
 
But nowadays everywhere people, social media, and others voice out that those family businesses are looking outside their local territory, going to develop their business because it is cheap and more convenient. The employment rate is getting lower and the overall sentiment about the future economy is not so great. Young people are moving abroad to spot their lucky chance. Yet, the need for entrepreneurship is urgently emerging. Universities are designing programs to connect young people with opportunities to progress and empower them on their journey towards employment.
 
It gives students in higher education the chance to create their own company while still pursuing their studies (Read more…).
Revitalizing Rural Areas Through the Power of Social Entrepreneurship

Revitalizing Rural Areas Through the Power of Social Entrepreneurship

Revitalizing Rural Areas Through the Power of Social Entrepreneurship

Monday, January 13, 2020

Revitalizing Rural Areas Through the Power of Social Entrepreneurship

Monday, January 13, 2020

Can Social Entrepreneurship Make Rural Communities More Livable?

An Overlooked Majority?

African cities are growing rapidly, but an estimated two-thirds of African people still live in rural areas. In some African nations, the ratio of rural: urban dwellers are even higher. In Burundi, in central Africa, it’s almost 9:1 – which gives some idea of the importance of the countryside.

However, numbers alone aren’t always enough to ensure that politicians based in capital cities focus on their rural populations. Providing necessary infrastructure in rural areas is much harder than it is in cities, which can lead to rural people feeling that their needs are not being considered.

Many approaches have been taken to addressing this, but so far, no single proposed solution has proven to be universally successful or appropriate. This presents an opportunity (and a need) for a rethink, and in this article, I’ll propose social entrepreneurship as a viable alternative. (Read more…)

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